This week is NAIDOC Week 2019 – dedicated to celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples.
And during this week’s Darwin Royal Commission hearings, members of the Aboriginal community (plus health experts) have told us about their experiences with accessing aged care services in their local areas. It’s very important that their voice is heard, so we wanted to tell you more about it in this edition.
Aboriginal people removed ‘from country’ to access aged care
Two aged care staff took the stand to explain the importance of staying ‘on country’ to Aboriginal elders, who play a vital role in their community.
“When they’re removed from the community, there’s a huge breach,” said one provider CEO. “If they don’t get an opportunity to return to teach their kids and their grandkids their cultural heritage it’s lost not only for those families but the whole community. And the whole of Australia loses that knowledge.”
But with extremely limited access to services in remote and very remote areas (where ATSI peoples make up 62 per cent of the population), many elders must be moved to more metro regions to receive proper care.
One Aboriginal elder, Mildred Numanurdirdi (pictured above), said she “cried for four weeks straight” after being moved 800km away from her family in Numbulwar (NT).
“It is too far for us, too far for them just to visit me. I’m asking for aged care in my community. They all love me and miss me,” she said. “My heart is crying because I am far away from my family . . . If I pass away here, I got my spirit, my culture, and my family way back home.”
One expert told Commissioner that many elders will stay living out in their community (despite their increasing complex care needs) to avoid separation from their family and country.
Data and communication are big issues
A panel of Aboriginal health services providers explained that a lack of ‘data’ was a big problem for remote Aboriginal communities – and that some elders have been approved for services they don’t even know they have access to.
One expert suggested that all elders’ health information be uploaded to the My Health Record system so that they can keep track of their care and service entitlements.
“Aboriginal people have by far the most complex needs and who actually receive the least level of service and these things are not new.”
This is a very big and complex issue – and one that we also heard a lot about during the Broome hearings (where aged care for ATSI communities was a main focus).
We hope that as the Royal Commission continues its important work, we begin to see strategies put in place to address to specific needs of Australia’s remote ATSI peoples, who deserve reliable access to vital aged care services just like any of our older mums and dads in metro regions.
